Tet 1969

Tet 1969 was a surprise offensive launched by the NVA and the Viet Cong in February 1969 during the Vietnam War.

The North launched its fourth major offensive in two years, targeting the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon and the major port city of Da Nang. The attacks were mounted to test the resolve of the new US president, Richard Nixon, and they killed 1,100 Americans in three weeks. The attacks on Da Nang and Saigon were beaten off rather quickly, however, and the offensive did not have nearly as large a scale as the original Tet Offensive or the two communist offensives that followed. President Nixon decided against resuming the bombing of the North for fear of angering the anti-war movement at home, so, in March, he secretly ordered B-52s to begin bombing the NVA bases in Cambodia, which had offered sanctuary to the enemy for years.